So What's It Like When It's MY Story?
by darkember14
Summary: Sequel to So What's It Like in AvatarOur Land. It's Darrin's turn to have a story, and he's visiting the 'happy' city of Ba Sing Se. What adventures will he and the Avatar have?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Hey. Yeah, all you little people out there. Guess who it is. Yep, it's me, the abominable Darrin, here to tell you a tale of long ago. Well, not too long ago, because it's like, 2006 and girls are actually wearing pants and there's cars and no more butter churns and...well, you get the idea.

I believe a while ago my best friend Syd told you a tale about the time we got sucked into the Avatar world. Good times, good times. Syd even fell in love with Jet - OUCH! All right, all right, I won't tell them! (Jeeze, the girl is TOUCHY!)

But after THAT, the Avatar cast got sucked into our world! (We had a hard time explaining why Syd's bedroom door was burnt halfway through.) Getting them through school and then back to their anime world was an ordeal, and it was just as bad with Azula and her soldiers tracking us. That was fun. But I feel sorry for Syd. We had to leave Jet behind. (I would have left Jon and Kayla behind, with all their fighting! Yeesh!)

But guess what? It's MY turn for a story. MY turn to have an adventure. MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE. Ahem. Well, anyway, look out, Avatar Land, because Darrin the Earthbender is comin' for ya! Whoo!

Um, you can turn the camera off now.

Now.

Cut.

Cut.

SYD, GET BACK HERE WITH MY BOX...um, mind turning the camera off now? Pretty please?


	2. Where Am I?

**Where In the Name of Mike Am I?**

School was boring that day. Even more so than usual. What's more, since they'd assigned us all to wear uniforms, we weren't the least bit comfortable. In Math class, I was scratching and digging at these nasty little pleated pants like a monkey. Syd and Kayla looked really uncomfortable, and they're not boys. But Syd poked a little at her blouse. It's something to see; Syd in a white blouse. She's always wearing something baggy. Jon and Andy were shifting in their seats. They looked like they were trying to burrow into the chairs. To make matters worse, we had a SUB today!

Now, usually, we do whatever we want when there's a sub. Throw things, pass notes, eat. But this guy, Mr. Hancock, is one heck of a sub. He's got eyes like a hawk, and caught two girls passing notes. He read it out loud to the class, too. Hah, I won't repeat it here. Hancock also yelled at Syd for having a blue streak in her hair, as it was 'vulgar and unseemly'. Needless to say, Syd was in a sour mood all day. He didn't talk to me much, except to point out to me that 'A boy's hair should not be past his shoulders, nor spiky'. Yep, my hair's long, brown and spiked up in the front. Style of a skater.

Anyway, what I'm here to tell you happened in the library. Me and the guys were there, Syd looking for poety, Kayla sleeping in a beanbag, Jon harassing the librarian, Andy reading about Pomeranians (?) and me on the Internet. I was bored, and tired of porn ads popping up like prairie dogs. Avatar fansites didn't appeal much to me, but I decided to see what the new ep was all about and annoy Syd with spoilers later. So, I sought out Google and began to search for a good Avatar fansite. Aha. What I found was the site me and Syd had been to when we got sucked into the Avatar world. (And I didn't dare touch that screen.)

I found a few episode summaries and quickly skimmed through them. Secret of the Fire Nation, seen it. And I still didn't get what the secret was. I read a little more carefully when I got to the episode that premeired after that. The ep itself drove me nuts; I didn't think people smiled THAT much on COMMERCIALS. Poor Syd was almost in tears when Jet was taken away at the end. I wanted to tell her it was only TV, but then I remembered - it was probably really happening!

I didn't find any new ep summaries. But then this weird little icon popped up in the middle of the screen: a picture of a chibi Aang waving at me. The arrow next to him said, "CLICK HERE." For all I knew, it could have been a picture of Avatar porn. (Which I hate.) Or a nuclear bomb. Or a virus. Or Spyware. Or (you may fill in the blank). But, being curious as usual, I clicked there.

FLASH.

I saw stars. The room spun, and I couldn't see anything but white blur.

"Help!"

Thump.

I blacked out.


	3. Ba Sing Se

**Ba Sing Se**

"Uhnhh..."

A few minutes later I found myself lying face to dirt in the middle of some large marketplace. Folks were walking around me as if I were merely a hole in the ground. (And there was somewhat of an indentation where I landed...no wonder I could barely remember my name.) No, I take that back. They were walking OVER me. "Ouch!" I yelled as some lady crossed over me. She was looking straight ahead. What is with people? The good people of our school weren't so...

Oh dear.

Marketplace? People in odd clothing? Bizzare-looking bird/pack mule/horse things?

Well. Avatar land.

The only question now was how the heck did I get here! I sat up and dusted myself off, thinking back. What had I done before I ended up here? School, library, fansite...oh yes, and that strange little icon. Drat my uncontrollable curiosity. Getting quickly to my feet to avoid being trampled further, I walked past some buildings and into a shadowed alleyway to think. Ok, how was I going to get out of here? The people would notice me soon enough. Some were already giving me looks (you don't see guys with their hair spiked up in the front and wearing band shirts in Avatar Land, do you?).

The best thing to do at this point would be to find some proper attire. So, gathering up my courage, I wandered aimlessly around until I located some sort of clothing shop. After looking through the odd selection of men's clothing for a bit, I realized that I had no...um...whatever those round metal things were. Money. Well, I did have about ten dollars in my pocket, so that would have to do...wait a sec. When I reached in to get the money, something clanked. Sure, there's some loose change in every guy's pocket, but change _jingles_, it doesn't _clank_. I hesitaintly pulled one out. So my CASH had changed too? Now I had a pocketful of metal disks with holes in them. And let me tell you, they were HEAVY. I grabbed some interesting-looking clothes and paid for them. The clerk looked at me oddly, but said nothing. Thank goodness.

The next thing I did was go back to my alley. After checking about ninety times to make sure no one was there, I changed into my Avatar duds. Jeepers. The pants were so wide and long I had to use a leather cord I found on the ground to hold them up. If I hadn't ripped off part of the waist, the pants alone would be a jumpsuit on me. Luckily the greenish-beige shirt went down to my knees. I ought to have checked the size before I bought the stuff. The matter of my 2006 clothes was easy enough to figure out; all I had to do was roll them up and carry them. My sandals looked more or less like anyone else's, so I kept those. (Yes, I wear sandals in September. Is that so wrong?)

This whole clothing buisness took about thirty minutes, and then I decided to take a little walk. This Ba Sing Se was huge. I could see earthbender kids playing their rock games and adults chatting. They didn't look my way. I guess even with spiked hair I must fit in somehow. But one thing did happen though. Three figures, two tall ones and a little one, watched me from the alley as I walked past. They stared at me. And stared. And stared.

Still staring.

They talked to each other excitedly.

I kept looking back and walking faster.

Before I knew it, these three figures were CHASING me. I ran. They ran. I yelled and ran faster, clutching my clothes. Dirt bombs were popping up with every pound of my feet. Oh yeah, forgot I was an earthbender in this world...no time for remembrance now. It was time to SCRAM.


	4. Syd

I was gasping for breath after all that running - and it had only been about fifteen minutes. Yeah, I'm not really a runner, just a skater. But I had slowed down enough for the three figures to catch up to me, and before I knew it, someone had yanked me to the side and into another alleyway. My breath caught where it was in my throat, and I was pretty much crying for my mother. (Mentally, you, idiots!) But as they didn't seem to be hurting me, I gulped and opened one eye. Oh! It was Jet...and Longshot...and Smellerbee. What were those guys doing here? "Hi, everyone!" I managed to croak out, sounding a lot more cheerful than I felt. Jet smiled. "Hey, Darrin. Where's Syd?" Huh. He still had a thing for that girl. "Um...well..." I said nervously, trying to pull up my drooping pants. "She isn't here. I'm alone. And I need to get out of here!" Was that disappointment I read on Jet's face?

"You went through the portal again, didn't you." He was laughing, and so were his buds. I groaned and leaned back against the wall. No self-respecting fourteen-year-old boy should have to go through this torture. "Yes, I went through the portal. And these clothes are driving me nuts, my head hurts, I'm hungry and thirsty, and-" Jet stopped me. "Alright, alright, we'll help you find your way out." "And food?" I asked hopefully. He nodded. "Yes, and food." I let out a sigh of relief. It was either me, or that stupid portal. And it wasn't going to be me. Once I went through, I was never going to another Avatar fansite again.

I expected Jet to take me to a restaraunt, but no...he took me to a smallish house on a hill, overlooking a river. It looked like one of those motels, except it was much cleaner and there were no stinking cars or webs everywhere. "This is where they're living for now," Jet explained. I arched a brow. "Who?" "Katara, Sokka, and Aang." He pointed in the direction of the little house. "And they've picked up a new friend as well. Some kid...an Earthbender." I nodded, knowing very well who he was talking about. Toph, this really tough Earth Nation kid they rescued from her dimwitted father. "Should I just go ahead up there?" I asked uncertianly. He gently pushed me forward. "Go on. You'll be ok. You're safe within these walls."

I headed up to the house, Jet's last words ringing in my head. I didn't like the way he said them...all trancelike. Still, all that mattered at this point was getting home, so I gave the door three hearty knocks. It swung open, and an overjoyed Aang practically suffocated me. "Darrin!" he yelled, flinging his arms around my waist. "Hi, Aang," I said, patting his back. I'm not much of a hugger. "Where are the others? I need to find that portal...again." His face fell, and he let go of me. "But you can't go yet. Something happened...and it's not good." He sighed and motioned for me to follow him into the house. I didn't see Katara or Sokka anywhere, and I had this mounting dread that whatever Aang had to show me was very, very bad. And I found out he was right.

Lying on a bed in one of the rooms was...Syd. My heart leaped into my throat and I rushed to her side. "Syd? Oh, come on, Syd, speak to me..." Katara was standing on the other side of her, with a cup of water. Syd's breathing was shallow and dry. I feared the worst, and I looked up at Katara helplessly. "What...what happened to her?" "She must have fallen through after you did," the waterbender explained sadly. It didn't take long for her to completely explain - Syd had gone through after me, and the portal was closing. She had somehow gotten stuck between worlds. "I think it was too much of a shock to her body. When the portal closed around her, she just passed out. That was an hour ago." Katara shook her head. "She's alive, but she won't wake up. We tried to get a doctor for her, but Sokka's been gone for awhile now. I don't think he's found one yet."

I knelt by the bed. Syd's red hair, streaked with black as usual, was flowing all over the bed. The portal must have dumped her here, which was a good thing...in a way. But this was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. "I'm sorry, Syd..." I said weakly, stroking her hand.

She didn't wake up.

**Another cliffie. Maybe you'll think twice before calling me a fanpoodle. Hah.**


	5. Suspicions

Boy, was I worried. Syd was alive, but she didn't look like she was going to wake up anytime soon and we were both stuck in Avatar Land. I knew it'd be possible to relocate the portal and get home...but there was no _way_ I was taking her back through the very thing that had hurt her until she was better. And, in all honesty, I wasn't feeling too confident. As I strolled out of the house, with my new weird clothing and new eyes staring at me, I wondered just why I managed to get myself into these messes.

Jet met up with me again a few miles away. I was walking aimlessly across the bridge when he appeared in front of me, looking curious. I decided to just let it out. "Syd's here," I puffed out, looking up at him dully. I really didn't feel like talking to anybody. "She is? Where?" I felt even worse as Jet's face lit up like a light bulb. He really cared for Syd...and it was my fault she was hurt. My throat choked up as I began to speak again. "She's - she's with Aang and the others." I took a deep breath and looked down, not wanting to see his expression next. "And she got caught between portals. She won't wake up...I don't know what to do..." There were at least ten seconds of silence before Jet finally said anything again. I still felt rotten, but I managed to look up again. Poor guy looked like Syd had died right before his eyes.

"Oh...um...did you get a doctor?" he asked slowly. I shrugged. "They're looking for one. Hard to find anything in this place." "Yeah." I sighed, feeling even more of an idiot than I already was, and pointed in the direction of the house. "You can go see her if you want...just tell them that I sent you."

He arched a brow in confusion.

"So Katara won't murder you."

"Oh."

And with that he took off running in the direction of the house, leaving little old me on the bridge alone. I didn't want to see Syd again...not like that. So without anything else to do, I decided to wander back into the city and see what I could see. The people were probably getting used to me now that I'd found a way to fit in, but I knew I didn't belong there. A little boy followed me for a few minutes, until I asked him why he was tagging along. Apparently kids aren't very talkative here; he just ran off.

Since I know I'm probably boring you to death with all these sordid details about my boredness...let's skip to the part where I was wandering around the more crowded part of the town. By then my legs were tired and I was starving, so I flopped down onto a nearby bench. Two men were talking a few feet away, and normally peoples' conversations drove me nuts unless it was me involved. In fact, these two dudes were discussing the war. I could only hear bits and pieces, but they stopped abruptly when a tall man in armor passed them. He glanced at me suspiciously, and then went on his way.

Phew.

I thought attracting any more attention wasn't a good thing on my part. But the men looked nervous, as if talking about the Fire Nation war wasn't allowed. That's when I noticed everyone else looked at ease. Too at ease. Like there was no war, nothing going on, no violence...it was worse than that eerie calm before the Langoliers came (which was NOT Stephen King's best work...). Then I saw that the guard who had glanced at me before was now staring at me, and then motioning to another guard. They were pointing. Aware of my non-Earth Nation appearance (at least in skin color and eye color) I stood and walked discreetly away.

Not discreetly enough. They were following.

Once around a corner, I started to run again, much faster than I had with Jet. This part of the city was unfamiliar, and I turned corners like a mouse in a maze trying to get away from those guards.

Well, unfortunately, I slammed headfirst into something hard and cold and..._metal?_

As the birds twittered around my aching head, I looked up to see what I'd run into this time. Ooh...one of those guards. Now it was time to put my super lying ability to work. "Lovely day, isn't it?" I began, forcing a big smile across my face. "I was just running from these robbers...they were trying to get my money." The guard frowned. "Do you expect us to believe that?"

"That was the general idea, in fact. You're sharp."

Unable to move for the guards behind me and the guard I was talking to, I knew I was in hot water now. I could try earthbending...but I wasn't too confident of my abilities. I might kill someone. They grabbed both of my arms, and no matter how much I struggled and kicked, they wouldn't let go. How fun was this?! I was too busy wallowing in self pity to realize the danger I was in.

As they dragged me, I heard a whoosh, and then searing pain in my head (again) made me cry out.

Then I blacked out (again).

**Another cliffie. Enjoy.**


	6. The Swinging Pendulum

You know what I realized 20 seconds after I woke up? I hate the Dai Li with a burning passion.

My head was throbbing when I finally felt safe enough to open my eyes after the guards dragged me away. My sight was a bit blurry, but I could see that I was in some kind of dark cell. I was facing the bars of it, anyway. With an irritated sigh, I sat up, holding my aching head. "This is not a good day for my cranium," I muttered, repeatedly blinking to try and get rid of the blurriness.

In about five minutes I was pretty much out of my temporary amnesia. I was in a cell, a stone one, with steel bars and a cold floor with a bowl sitting near me. Leaning over, I saw that it was filled to the brim with some kind of brownish stuff that looked like applesauce. Applesauce with chunks of meat. Yech. I moved as far away from it as possible, although I was hungry and it didn't smell too bad. Maybe I'd taste it later, if I got desperate.

Ok, time to regroup. I frantically started sorting out my mental filing cabinet, trying to remember what had happened between now and the time I'd been forced into Avatar Land. Then I remembered the most important thing - getting Syd home. Was she all right? I got to my feet and walked slowly over to the bars, examining the metal. This stuff was better than the ones in any prison in the real world. In other words, escape was impossible. How was I going to get out of this one?

The mushy stuff was giving off a stench so repellent I thought my nose would bleed. Annoyed, I did what I usually do when I'm alone - I talk to inanimate objects. "Might as well stop trying to make me hungry," I grumbled, "because I'm not eating you anytime soon. I want to live a bit longer."

It sat there.

"Well? What have you got to say for yourself? I know, Darrin is a big idiot that talks to things when he's bored."

It sat there.

When I'd had my fill of this nonsense, I sat down a few feet away from the accursed bowl of mush and started doing little school things in my mind to stay awake. "Okay, Angle-Side-Angle..ASA. Leg-Angle...LA." Forget this. Geometry terms were more boring than anything else. "Sun. Mercury. Mars. Jupiter. No wait...Sun. Mercury. Venus. Mars. Jupiter. Saturn. Uranus..." I started to giggle. Something about that word made me giggle like anything.

"Uranus..." I whispered, starting to laugh. I heard footsteps coming down the hall, but I couldn't stop. "Uranus!" I was almost howling with laughter now. Two guards stopped in front of my cell, obviously wondering if I had a mental problem or something. "Um...I'm fine!" I stood up, holding my sides."Nothing wrong...nothing at all." They looked at each other, then opened my door, grabbing me by both arms. My laughter stopped mid-giggle.

They half dragged me to a large room, one made completely of stone, with a big stone table in the middle. At the head of this table was a chair, and hanging above the chair was a lightbulb. At least, it looked like one. The men plopped me into the chair, strapping my arms to it. "What's going on here?" I demanded. They just scowled at me and stood on either side of the chair. Great. What now, a trial?

You know the part in those kidnapping movies where they tie the person to a chair and then refuse to tell the person what's going to happen? Well, guess what? I wasn't havin' it. No way, Jose - I wanted my answers and I wanted them now. "Look, I'm not your average prisoner, ok? What do you want?" The guard closest to me leaned over and said, "Shut up. He'll be here shortly."

"Who?"

"Long Feng."

"Who the heck's Long Feng?"

"You will find out."

"Oh, didn't I see that one coming."

Don't you just hate those, 'it's better you wait and see' things that people say? Ugh. Anyway, we sat there for about five minutes, humming and counting wall rocks. Well, at least I was. Those guards probably had to go to the bathroom by now...standing there for so long. Eventually, though, there was this small rumbling noise across the room on the other wall. A doorway opened up in the aforementioned wall - Feng was apparently an earthbender. This was just...perfect.

A tall dude with long black hair and a gold and black jacketlike tunic stepped into the room, a passive expression on his face. His eyes narrowed when he saw me. "This is the one?" he asked the guards. They nodded, stepping back. Feng looked me over critically, like an animal sizing up its opponent. "Tell me your name," he commanded sternly. I rolled my eyes. "Darrin."

"Darrin." He wasn't an intimidating person, at least to me, but he sounded dangerous. "And where do you come from, Darrin? I know you're not from around here." I arched a brow. What was I supposed to tell him? Oh, I'm a fifteen-year-old high school kid from the year 2007, and I got here by accident because I touched a computer. Second question: "Duh, what's a computer?" Do you see my problem?

So I decided to lie, which Syd was better at than I was, but it couldn't hurt to try. "A village," I replied smoothly. "In the woods. I came here with my dad to get supplies and stuff." Feng considered me for a moment. "And...where is your father, might I ask?" That was a tough question. "Um...I don't know. We got separated a few hours ago." Being a liar was pretty easy in this place. But Feng apparently wasn't done yet, as he smirked and looked up.

The light fixture started swinging like an ominous pendulum, obviously controlled by the rock thingy it was attached to. I didn't mean for my eyes to start following it, but I couldn't help it. Still, I had some control over myself, because I managed to tear my eyes away long enough to glare at Feng. "What's this all about?" I snarled. "You're going to have to get used to our ways, Darrin," he said, stumbling a little over my unfamiliar name. "Even if we have to...manipulate your mind a little."

I wasn't going to be hypnotized! "Are you crazy?" I struggled, but the stupid straps were too tough. Even if I could earthbend Feng into the wall across the room (what a sight that'd be) I'd still be stuck here.

Bad karma. What would we do without it?

**Ok guys, I'm allowed to have the bold-print letters now. As you can see, my flawless plan to get out of Ba Sing Se didn't exactly work. Neither was it a plan at all. Huh. Anyway, stick around to see what happens to me. I'm already pretty embarassed...yeah, as you guessed, Syd found these ducky boxers in my sock drawer (what was she doing in there in the first place?) and showed them to Jon. **

**Plus, Jon also made me put the Uranus joke in there if I didn't want my beloved duckies posted on Youtube. I doubted he would do that, but still...blackmail!**

**Enjoy the chapter, Darrin out.**

**Cut.**

**...cut.**

**CUT! Turn off the camera already!!!**

**Oh...it's broken now. Great, so now you'll have to listen to us try to fix this camera. Alright, try not to get bored, folks.**

**work begins on the camera**


	7. AN: Ok, folks

**Alright guys. I'm sorry my updates aren't as much as they should be. I switched schools back in August and I've been swamped ever since. But I will do something with this series, even though it's become rather dull. At least, I'll try to. How about this: you guys tell me what you want to have happen. I'll make my chapters longer, but the last one was a little hard to write. **

**So...any suggestions? **


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